The race is on for Sandy's Mill

The Grade-1 listed, 18th-century East Lothian watermill that sparked a stampede seven years ago is on the market again

When Sandy's Mill last came on the market seven years ago, the open-viewing day nearly ended in a riot. There were so many visitors that traffic jammed the narrow access lane. "It was bedlam," says Stuart Williamson. "Worse than T in the Park." Eventually the police were called.

Even in those heady days of rocketing house prices, such a level of hysteria was unusual, but then Sandy's Mill was unusual. A Grade-1 listed water mill, complete with waterwheel and 18th-century machinery, it resembled a scene from a Constable painting, the perfect image of a timeless riverside idyll.

Better still, it was an idyll within a 30-minute drive of Edinburgh, on the River Tyne near Haddington. There were some drawbacks: the buildings were derelict, the layout was awkward to convert and Historic Scotland was insistent that the machinery should stay. This did not prevent 34 people from putting in bids and